A GP who spent 60 days trying to get home to Queensland after his father's funeral in Victoria says his patients have suffered while he battled red tape.
But Alec Stereff said he was one of the lucky ones, with Queensland Police figures showing more than 12,000 people were still waiting for their hotel quarantine applications to be approved.
Dr Stereff applied to re-enter Queensland on September 6 and was prepared to undergo hotel quarantine, but his application was not processed until the ABC contacted state authorities last week.
"It's just been so frustrating," Dr Stereff said.
"Initially, the form said it would take about three days to process.
"That's when I decided I could apply for an exemption to speed up my process."
But by early November, Dr Stereff was still waiting for an answer.
The ABC questioned Queensland Health on Friday about the delay in processing Dr Stereff's exemption application.
His exemption application was approved soon afterwards.
"I got a call from them about an hour after I spoke with the ABC," Dr Stereff said.
Four passengers on a flight
Dr Stereff was able to return to his home in Townsville on Sunday night after flying from Melbourne with just three other passengers.
"There were four flight attendants as well," Dr Stereff said.
Queensland Health has defended the process.
"We know border restrictions are inconvenient and can cause disruption to people's lives and livelihoods," a spokesperson said.
"We must balance these factors against the serious health risk to more than five million Queenslanders."
Many of Dr Stereff's patients have been concerned by his two-month absence from the Townsville GP clinic where he works.
"Not having me around has been putting a huge strain on the other doctors," he said.
"We're short-staffed at the best of times.
"Patients haven't been able to get into our clinic, so some of them have probably been ending up into the emergency department unnecessarily."
The clinic was facilitating patients writing to the Member for Townsville, Scott Stewart, and Health Minister Yvette D'ath.
"There are so many people that are trying to get back to Queensland and if you're going to exclude people from your state, I think you need to have better support services," Dr Stereff said.
Thousands still waiting
A Queensland Police statement said about 12,380 people have outstanding applications for hotel quarantine.
"The QPS anticipates the vast majority of applicants will await the opportunity to quarantine at home in the coming weeks," it said.
"The QPS is reviewing its systems and processes to enable an open and fair transition for applicants to fulfil all requirements under the new restrictions.
"All border pass applicants will be notified of any changes to the process in the coming weeks."
